We all know Anthony Gonzalez got injured and will not play on MNF. The Indy opening day roster consisted of only 4 WRs: Reggie Wayne, Gonzalez + 2 guys I ain't never heard of. I assume they have alread or will sign a guy off the street or their practice squad. That means that Indy's new WR corps consists of Reggie Wayne + 3 guys I aint never heard of. I find this interesting because our obvious strength on defense is our ability to stop the run. So that means Manning will be throwing the ball to a bunch of guys (a) he does not have good timing with; and (b) aren't that great. What do y'all think? Double Reggie Wayne and see if Pierre Garcon and Roy Hall can beat us. Of course, there's always Dallas Clark, and you saw how our defense played against Tony Gonzalez.
Tell that to the Jaguars. Anthony Gonzalez got injured in the 1st quarter, and the Jags know how to stop the run. Reggie Wayne had a nasty game. And they still have Dallas Clark. EDIT: Here's what they did without Gonzalez...
Better put three guys on Wayne...he's that good (IMO). Besides, he's still gonna be Peyton's go to guy.
Roy Hall is on IR i'm pretty sure. i know he won't be playing for the Colts. and by the way.. just because you havent heard of them doesnt mean they arent capable. Austin Collie was the nation's leading receiver last year...
I'm still a bit shocked they haven't signed Marvin Harrison, personally, even if it's just for 4 games.
i think pierre garcon has had some good preseason outings. i seem to recall it. my biggest fear is dallas clark on yeremiah bell.
Just like in college, everyone forgets about Austin Collie. He's not an NFL super star or anything, he's only a rookie but I like the guy a lot. He is quarterback friendly receiver and runs quality routes.
Polian said he is looking at some veteran WRs but will not sign Marvin. he does not want to sign an old WR who hasnt gone through any camp. here is what he said: "It really is counterproductive to try to bring a player in who has not had any training camp, not had any offseason. That's especially true of someone at Marvin's age. It's very, very difficult to do and you're probably inviting injury upon injury."
I am nearly as worried about Clark against Bell as I was Tony-G. Clark is a great target, but not in the same league as Tony-G. Of course who is. Collie could really hurt us if he gets going early IMO.
If I was Indy I would probably want to start out quick against our D. I'd try to get Wayne into the slot and look for a mismatch against either rookie Sean Smith or one of our LBs. If I can't get Wayne off track I'd go straight to Dallas Clark. Clark becomes the defacto #2 WR for Indy with the injury to Gonzales. He'll get targeted early. Would not be shocked to see them try to attack our Safeties along the seam. I'd also pect some screens to Addai mixed in with some draws/counters to Donald Brown to try and slow down our front 7. Collie will see action, but I don't know how much of an impact he'll have, honestly. He's a solid player, but a rookie. In some ways, he kind of reminds me of Hartline.
LOCK SMITH owes us a pick from last week and i think he'll deliver this week . I'm really hoping Sporano's spacing fix for our O-line indeed works.
he's been quoted during his interviews this week saying part of the line woes can be fixed by giving less space between the defender and our linemen, and i find it pretty interesting because you would think this would be the strength of our team being the O-line is his specialty.
It certainly wasn't a strength last week. It sounds like Sparano thinks that we didn't do a good job getting up close with the Falcons D-Line (I'd agree), but then again, we didn't do very good at all, from Long to Smiley to Grove to Thomas to Carey. I wonder if we'll adjust our line spacing at all (meaning between T and G, or G and C) to try and get things packed in a little closer. Let's hope they rebound on Monday.
